Pieces of Bone in Raw

cat princesses

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I purchase my raw from my local pet store - she has it made up by a local butcher. Recently she changed to a different butcher and I have been finding sharp small pieces of bone. I now have to go thru it all with my fingers first before serving. I have alerted her as well and told her he needs to fix something to grind this stuff down - obviously this would be considered dangerous right? Some of these pieces are SHARP! I can't break them easily between my fingers so i assume something like that would do damage to internal organs during digestion?
 

dhammagirl

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It depends on the size of the bone bits. I don’t have any information on hand about a size that’s problematic, perhaps someone else here can address that.
My cat Zeke eats whole mice bones and all, and I give him chunks of rabbit with bone, which crunches down to whatever size and swallows, and his fine grind ground rabbit has bits of bone (I get everything from Hare Today).

Cats can digest raw bone just fine. They should not be given cooked bones because they splinter.

The issue I’d be more concerned with is the percentage of bone. If it’s too high, constipation will result.
 

Azazel

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How small are the pieces? Can you measure it or take a picture?

Usually homemade raw food is made with a plate that's at least 4mm small:

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cat princesses

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I just picked thru the stuff I have thawed so I can take pictures on the next batch. They are small pieces but some were sharp and pointed and it kinda scared me.
I have never come across this with the raw I have purchased from her to date. I did text to let her know and I'll probably gather the pieces in the next day or two and take then to show her on saturday.
 

Azazel

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If your gut instinct is that it's a little too big then I would err on the side of caution. I usually make boneless raw food, but I have had pieces of bone get into the batch because the butcher didn't de-bone properly and my cats have ate around the bone in these instances. They seem to be smart enough to know not to eat it. Not saying that you shouldn't still be cautious, but it's good to know that at least they are aware to some extent.
 
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